Weekly Commentary on China Containerized Transportation

Zhu Pengzhou

Transport demand returns to grow as shipment rush before the Chinese New Year， but the oversupply of capacity has not been changed in general， with spot rate in most services sliding further， ， expect for the North America service. On Jan.29， China （Export） Containerized Freight Index （CCFI） issued by Shanghai Shipping Exchange （SSE） quotes 778.79 points， down by 0.8% from one week ago； while Shanghai （Export） Containerized Freight Index （SCFI） issued by SSE has a week-on-week decrease of 3.9% to 591.51 points.

Transport demand in the Europe service is too weak to increase. Most box liners choose to reduce freight rate to attract more cargo volume， causing spot rate sliding， but at a slower space. On Jan.29， fright rates in the services from Shanghai to Europe and Mediterranean （covering seaborne surcharges） quote USD469/TEU and USD488/TEU， tumbling by 13.9% and 22.4% from one week ago respectively.

As the coming of shipment rush， cargo volume in the North America service performs stable and appears to be on the upward trend. This week， the average slot utilization rates in the USWC and USEC services mount to beyond 95%， with some even full loaded. Although the demand/supply condition has some improvement， spot rate ups and downs because box liners hold different attitudes towards the post market. Part of box liners try to hike fright rate slightly， with the extent between USD 100/FEU and USD300/FEU， and spot rate grows slowly. On Jan.29， freight indices in the services from China to USWC and USEC quote 817.29 points and 1015.07 points， up by 0.1% and 2.9% comparing with one week ago respectively.

In the Persian Gulf/Red Sea service， cargo volume rises gradually. The demand/supply condition improves somehow， and the average slot utilization rate in this service rebounds to near 85%. On Jan.29， freight index in the China-Persian Gulf/Red Sea service has week-on-week decrease of 1.2% to 598.38 points.

In the Australia/New Zealand service， transport demands recover slowly， and demand/supply condition ups and down. The average slot utilization rate leaving off Shanghai Port declines to around 85%. On Jan.29， freight rate in this service （covering seaborne surcharges） quotes USD525 per TEU， down by 6.7% from last week.

In the South America service， for the weak economy in core countries including Brazil， consumption demand shrinks. The average slot utilization rate in this service stays near 70%. Spot rate declines， with some even approaching USD50 per TEU. On Jan.29， freight rate in the Shanghai to South America service （covering seaborne surcharges） quote USD137 per TEU， tumbling by 11.6% from one week ago.

Cargo volume keeps growing in the Japan service， where the average slot utilization rate rebounds to be around 70%， with spot rate returning to rise. On Jan.29， freight index in the China-Japan service quotes 628.31 points， up by 2.6% from one week ago.

（Please contact the Information Dept of SSE for more details.）